


Here, with you

by savagerhapsody



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 01:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7019863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savagerhapsody/pseuds/savagerhapsody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A closer look into what Shaw's safe place looks like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here, with you

Shaw awoke, her eyelids heavy and her head throbbing. Her dry tongue flicked roughly against the roof of her mouth, her saliva bitter.

Her room was silent and empty. She reviled the four blank walls surrounding her, the cheap linoleum tile, the hospital white bedsheets she laid in. She shifted, uncomfortable. Bedsores littered her body in every place imaginable, and her muscles were weakened with atrophy. The wall mirror in front of her bed mocked her mercilessly with images of her own fragility.

On most days it would inspire an almighty rage within her, fueling her fantasies of escape—but they had since upped the dosage of whatever sedative she was receiving, and struggling seemed increasingly more futile.

She had begun to fear the opening of the door. There were only three reasons for the door to open—to be injected with a sedative, to be fed intravenously, or the start of another simulation. Shaw could tell they intentionally kept these events at staggered, random intervals, in order to keep her as disoriented as possible.

It was a triggered response—like Pavlov's Dog, she knew. But every time Shaw heard the tiny, solitary 'beep' of the door key, her stomach heaved and churned in a violent panic. Conditioning was powerful, in that way.

She laid there in a solemn nightmare, desperately hoping for the sedative to finally wear off, so she could summon the energy to exact revenge on the next unfortunate orderly who visited next.

She did not have to wait long. Moments later, she heard the familiar 'beep' of the door sensor. Uncontrollably, she dry-heaved in her bed. Her muscles tensed, the 'fight' portion of her 'fight-or-flight' instincts engaging. Shaw laid in her bed, waiting for the world to stop spinning, willing to move her limbs. She focused on her toes first, feeling them twitch slightly under the bedsheets.

The orderly said nothing to her, but through the dim haze of her vision, she could make out a concerned expression. Shaw would have smiled then, but the muscles in her face did not cooperate. 

Wordlessly, she felt the pinprick of the needle into the crook of her arm. She lolled her head to the side to see a feeding bag draining drip by drip above her head. 

Dinner time. Great. Or was it breakfast?

It would be so easy, Shaw thought, so easy to snap her fragile pale fingers and strangle her with her own IV line. She'd done as much to a larger male orderly last week. Probably why they'd upped her dosage.

Shaw focused her willpower into her legs, regaining motion in her calves, then her thighs. She just needed to gain use of her arms...

The orderly, however, made quick work of her task, and dashed out of the room with a sigh of relief. Shaw sighed as well, resigned to her fate. She closed her eyes, and drifted off.

\----------

When she came to, the first thing she felt was the warmth of the sun on her skin. She stretched lazily, feeling the full strength of her body returning.

She surveyed the view around her, realizing where she was. The sight of her playground put her at immediate ease. The sun was nearly set, bathing the playground in a beautiful orange glow. Shaw smiled, striding past the teeter-totter and coming to face the swing-set.

“Hey honey. Mind giving a girl a push?”

Root beamed up at her with blissful adoration. Shaw's heart swelled in her chest. She was home.

Shaw moved behind Root and splayed her fingers across her back, feeling the soft skin of her shoulders over her tank top. She gave her a gentle push. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” Shaw said.

Root sounded confused.

“You suggested we come here. We just had Thai food in the park, and took Bear for a walk, and then you said you wanted to come here.”

Shaw hummed thoughtfully, and pushed Root again, harder this time. Shaw took pleasure in watching Root soar higher into the air.

“Huh. I must have forgotten.”

Shaw pushed her once more, using most of her force to push Root even higher. Root waited until she was at the height of her swing, and leapt off. Shaw was frightened for her for a moment, but Root landed gracefully on the astro-turf like a cat.

Root winked, her eyes gleaming with joy and affection.

“Silly girl.”

Root turned on her heel and strode towards the monkey bars. Shaw followed dutifully behind, entranced by the vision of Root (and the sway of her hips.)

She watched Root climb to sit atop the monkey bars. She swung both of her legs over one of the bars, and let herself fall backwards, so that she was hanging upside-down. Her long hair hung in perfect gentle waves. She gave Shaw a mischievous look.

Shaw kissed her then, with all the tenderness and intensity she had within her.

She didn't mind that Root was upside-down, and playfully nipped her upper lip. She looked into Root's honey-colored eyes and basked in the gentle warmth of the sun. Shaw threaded her fingers into auburn hair and tugged slightly. Root happily complied, parting her lips to let Shaw fully taste her sunny enthusiasm.

Shaw made a small, heated grunt in the back of her throat, and Root couldn't help but grin. She flipped down from the monkey bars and squeezed Shaw's hand. 

“Come on the slide with me.”

Root disappeared.

Shaw indulged in her own childish instincts and swung across the monkey bars, easily clearing rung after green metal rung. She climbed on top of the jungle gym and found Root sitting, politely waiting at the top of the slide. The slide was wide—wide enough for their adult bodies and roughly ten feet off the ground. 

Root patted the space behind her. Shaw grinned, and sat behind her, her legs curving around Root's backside. She laced her arms around Root's hips.

“Here we go...”

The ride was over in three seconds, but Shaw savored every moment of it.

Root turned her face blithely.

“Go again?”

They did, several more times—sometimes Root in front, sometimes Shaw, sometimes Root would jokingly shove Shaw down by herself. Shaw quickly lost count. All she knew was that she was perfectly happy sliding down this slide as long as time could possibly allow.

On the last occasion, Root embraced Shaw from behind, pressing her body as firmly into Shaw's as she could.

A knot of desire formed in Shaw's abdomen. When they reached the bottom, Shaw abruptly turned around, her hands on either side of Root's face, pinning her against the metal slide. Root gazed up at her, innocent and doe-eyed. She could see Shaw's eyes darkened in want, and waited for the killing blow.

Shaw kissed her roughly—grabbing both of Root's wrists and restraining them both up above her head. Root squirmed slightly in protest, but even she knew she wasn't getting out of this. Shaw firmly held her in place, not allowing her to come up for air. She slipped a thigh in between Root's legs, which earned her a whimper in response.

“Sameen...”

Shaw heard her name being called. She wondered how that was possible, if Root's mouth was currently occupied.

“Sameen.”

Shaw pulled back and opened her eyes to see Root gone.

“No...no no.”

Shaw got to her feet, terrified. She looked around to see the images of the playground begin to blur and shift.

“Alright. Begin Simulation 4,232.”

“No!”

Like being submerged in ice water, Shaw awoke with a startled gasp. She was back in the hospital bed.

If she was capable of tears, she would have cried then.


End file.
